Comment by codewright | Hacker News Reader

Comment by codewright | Hacker News Reader

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I identify with, and am seeking for myself, a lot of things described here.

That said, the author is speaking from an intensely privileged point of view. Referring to selling one's time as a programmer as 'whoring' caused me to cringe.

I have strong aversion to growth for growth's sake now that I've lived and worked in Silicon Valley and the startups that go with it (I was CTO at a nutrition startup).

Things I've done recently:

1. Quit my job and went back to being an independent consultant. Looking to start a product company in the gap time between contracts.

2. Exercising more, in my case, 6 times a week minimum as well.

The real question is whether or not I'll be able to make something that bears revenue fruit or not. I've had small bits of success here and there before but nothing substantial or lasting. Current side project is just me scratching an itch, no real revenue potential.

I've been reading a lot in an attempt to learn as much as I can and prepare myself to be able to make something profitable. Mostly marketing and sales books, about to do another read-through of Patio11's stuff again.

Can anyone tell me what the aspiring micro-ISV/self-employed entrepreneur really needs to know in order to get ramen profitable? I know I need to build and experiment quickly - what else?

Edit:

My book log: http://bitemyapp.com/post/book-log-1/

I agree with orangethirty's "start selling". I just need to hoof it and do it. Not about to stop reading though :)

Fair point re: whoring, so far as we might have to agree to disagree.

Let me explain differently by saying that when I was young, I wanted nothing more than to get paid to program. I loved to code, and I needed to get paid — professional coding was the obvious answer.

The problem was that by my mid-20s I was really sad all of the time, and my work was at the root of it. I was programming and getting paid, yet the more work I did the worse I felt. I thought I had fallen out of love with coding.

One day it hit me like a lightning bolt: the reason you do something directly impacts whether you enjoy doing it.

Being a prostitute seems like it would be awesome. You get laid constantly and people throw money at you, right? Well, only if you ignore that you don't have any control of who, when, how, why or where in many cases. Awesome becomes terrible.

I get the same joy from coding that a painter gets from painting. A painter that can paint what, when, how, why and where they want is likely happy. A painter that has to paint what other people want on a schedule is often just struggling to pay the rent. They develop a toxic relationship with their art, and that's sad.

So yeah, I have had some great programming clients and worked on some really interesting code projects for money, but in the end it wasn't worth the sadness that my body was literally fighting back against. I was fat and sick all of the time, everything seemed like it was getting worse. I was disconnected from the chi.

However you want to describe it, everything started getting better as soon as I stopped doing it for other people.

So, instead of whoring your developer skills, you're whoring your technical knowledge?

I'm not whoring my technical knowledge. I discovered that I really enjoy sharing it, and it's a happy coincidence that people are excited to pay for it.

"I get the same joy from coding that a painter gets from painting. A painter that can paint what, when, how, why and where they want is likely happy. A painter that has to paint what other people want on a schedule is often just struggling to pay the rent. They develop a toxic relationship with their art, and that's sad." Love this quote Pete!

I love getting paid to program. The trick is in carefully selecting projects, teams, and clients plus actively setting expectations (e.g. staying in the driver's seat) such that you are not working on other people's schedules. Otherwise, yes, freelancing turns out to be just like having a boss. And that's no fun.

You need to stop reading and start selling. Go out (outside) and talk to people. See what they want to fix in their lives and fix it for them. Change them. Rinse and repeat. That's all there is to market research.

Example: I once sold a program to a furniture store because I went in to buy a sofa. They were doing everything with excel. I offered to build custom solution for them and they agreed. The program ended up being bought by 5 furniture stores. You never know who need what if you don't ask.

I agree with 'start selling' but disagree with 'stop reading', especially if he enjoys it. When an opportunity shows up from talking to people, the reading bit can really push you ahead in making the best choices and understanding the situation better.

So keep reading and start selling. Split your time up and make a schedule.

To go the micro-ISV route, take Amy Hoy's 30x500 class. Helps one start not with an "idea" and then selling that "idea". But with discovering and solving pains in a niche. Much easier, was a paradigm shift for me, after so many ideas and products that failed.

Here's the 30x500 class: http://unicornfree.com/30x500

Make friends with someone who has visibility into a good market. It's much more fruitful than the other way around - you are good at writing software so solve a known problem, not at solving unknown problem with software you already wrote.

In reply to your question about stuff micro ISVs need to know to get profitable, I'm currently expanding this post: http://www.layeredthoughts.com/startups/12-rules-for-buildin... into a full book with an essay per rule (and some extra rules) I'm about halfway done and hope to have it done by summer.

Move to India. You'll "get" Ramen profitable.

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